I too don't see the need to blanket horses in the wild don't get blankets they learn to survive.Posted via Mobile Device

Hmm, not that I am agreeing or disagreeing but this logic is rather flawed...in that in the wild horses that can't stay warm enough....die. And most horse owners generally aren't excited to cull their herds that way. Just like in the wild they don't have vets to help them give birth. The mares and foals also die a LOT. I'm sure anybody who has purchased a mare, put effort into choosing a stallion, paying for the stud fee and making sure she's in foal then waiting the whole pregnancy would not hesitate to call a vet to prevent losing one or both to a complication that modern medicine could have prevented. Just a thought.

When I lived in the UK, my horses both owned to turn out blankets, and a stable blanket, and some extras just in case. They were blanketed a lot during the winter when it was cold wet and miserable.

My first couple of years owning horses in Canada here I didn't own a blanket, but now I have one turn out for Ace, and a selection that would work for the others if needed. Fortunately although we get temps down to the -40's mostly it is a sunny dry cold and the horses are perfectly happy in it. There will be a few days here in fall and more in the spring that I have to watch carefully to make sure that everyone is doing OK.

Mind you I own a bunch of easy keepers, they go into winter fat and sassy and usually come out of it the same way

100% in agreement with this. Whether you blanket or not depends on the climate and the horse.

There is not a 'blanket answer' ha ha ha my jokes are just so much funnier than anyone elses.

Any stock will take cold, what they find hard to tolerate is cold and wet.

I am in the UK where it has been wet, wetter and next week the wettest yet. I hate to see the horses stood with their tails to the wind heads down backs hunched and shivering off all the food they have been eating.

All the horses come in at night during the winter, daytime if it is hot and the flies are bad in the summer. The youngsters and brood mares do not wear rugs (blankets) The other horses are all in full work so they are clipped and need the rugs to replace the removed hair.

What I do hate is seeing horse with thick rugs on when the weather is warm and sunny. They are so uncomfortable.

I would never rug a foal or a mare with a foal at foot, unless it was sick, the dangers of them getting entangled is far to great.

I have had my horse for 15 years. Last year was the first time she had a blanket on for the winter. She's getting older and its been harder and harder to keep weight on her. The blanket really makes a difference for her. The other horse however does not get a blanket and he doesn't need one, he stays at a great weight and gets nice and fuzzy.

We don't ever blanket our horses and they are just fine. We only trail ride and our horses don't get worked out a lot as it is so they tend to be on the plump side even though they only get pasture and are on a dry lot with hay in the winter. No grain because they don't need it to keep on weight. That's our experience.

I don't currently blanket, but my two don't need it either. When I first bought Lily, I almost blanketed her for the winter. She came from KY and is more of a thin skinned pony. We were having a really rough fall; windy, cold, and rainy and she was really miserable. Thankfully, while I was looking for a blanket that would actually fit her she adjusted to the weather and actually grew a coat. I'm sure it helped that she had good shelter, a ton of hay, and grain supplement. Now she grows a good coat on the same schedule as my QH and is happy as a clam all winter. I think sometimes we jump the gun on using blankets on a horse that doesn't grow much of a coat.

IF I had a horse that needed it I would blanket, but I'm glad I don't, my lifestyle and budget really requires me to own horses that not hard/difficult keepers.

I think some people overdo it, but I'm sure there are plenty of people that think I underdo it, as long as the horses are not suffering (and I don't count a day or two of discomfort here and there as suffering) I keep my thoughts to myself.

My horses live outside 24/7 with a run in shelter. It gets -40 here often in the winter but I don't blanket for cold, they grow a nice coat. There are a few nights in the fall/spring that I do blanket them though and that's when we are getting freezing rain/snow combined with a steep drop in overnight temperatures predicted. I will put a fleece cooler on them and cover it with a waterproof sheet. It comes off the next morning or as soon as the weather clears a little.

Horses in the wild are almost constantly on the move and are uninhibited by fencing. In most cases a horse is colder with a blanket because if flattens the hair against his skin instead of allowing warm air to be trapped. Horses have the ability to control hair rotation somewhat to what meets the horse's needs. Horses often overheat under blankets which can lead to dehydration. A horse with a good coat was blanketed with a heavy blanket which she continually tried to remove. As the winter progressed this poor horse cooked under this blanket whenever the sun shone. What happened to compensate was the hair on her legs grew to about 3" and stood out like a bottle brush. This was not normal for her breeding. This hair was trying to capture cooling breezes and cool the blood in her legs as her body sent overheated blood to her legs. It needed to cool before it went back up to the heart.

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